Google Takes Another Stab At Being Facebookish With +1 Button

Remember Google Buzz, the search engine giant’s attempt at trying to become all Facebook-like? It didn’t exactly do much to make Mark Zuckerberg sweat and eventually ended up as the subject of an FTC investigation over privacy issues. But that isn’t stopping Big G from trying to create a more social aspect of its search results. This week, the company announced its new “+1 Button,” which is pretty much the same as Facebook’s Like button, except not on Facebook and not at all private.

“Use +1 to give something your public stamp of approval, so friends, contacts, and others can find the best stuff when they search,” reads a statement on the Google Labs page for +1, which is currently in the opt-in testing state. “Get recommendations for the things that interest you, right when you want them, in your search results.”

But unlike Facebook, where only your friends will see which items you’ve given the thumbs-up to, hitting a +1 button makes your feelings public.

According to Google, your +1 choices can end up in in Google search results, ads, and sites across the web.